News

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans a modest acceleration of its small format stores in the coming years as investors were assured Wednesday morning that financial returns are now comparable with the company’s large supercenters.

DOVER, N.J. — Casio America has joined with Registroid LLC -- an independent software vendor located in Mobile, Alabama -- to offer a comprehensive retail point of sale system called the Registroid Cloud to its Android VX-100 all in one POS unit.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. is expanding its e-commerce service to Japan. Japaese customers can now shop Gap and Banana Republic products online through its new Japanese e-commerce sites (gap.co.jp and bananarepublic.co.jp).  The sites offer Gap, GapKids, babyGap and Banana Republic products.

Rogers, Ark. -- As part of its annual address to investors on Wednesday, Wal-Mart Stores said it expects global e-commerce sales to reach $9 billion next fiscal year.

The retailer said it has made walmart.com easier to shop with a new search engine, enabled cash payment functions, and is now testing same-day delivery in four markets and a scan-and-go service for smartphones.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group said Wednesday that the U.S. commercial real estate market continued to show moderate improvement across all property sectors in third quarter 2012.

In the retail sector, properties continued to see modest improvement in availability, which fell 10 bps to 12.9%, during the third quarter.

Miami -- While out-of-stock items and inventory performance remain top-of-mind, retailers' concerns about understanding customer preferences — along with their own ability to respond to those preferences with new ideas about pricing and promotions — have become top business challenges, according to a survey of 96 retailers published Wednesday by Retail Systems Research.

San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- Shopatron said Wednesday that women’s specialty retailer Intermix is using Shopatron's order management solution to integrate its retail locations into the company's e-commerce sales strategy.

Using Shopatron's distributed order management system, Intermix can now fulfill online orders with available inventory from either a distribution center or a retail store.

Vernon, Calif. -- True Religion Apparel said Wednesday it is evaluation strategic alternatives, which could include the sale of the company.

The denim manufacturer, which also operates about 140 retail stores, said it was contacted by interested third parties, which triggered the formation of a special committee to explore alternatives.

No timetable for a potential sale has been set.

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 2 jumped 27% to $609 million, from $478 million in the year-ago period. The warehouse club operator credited strong sales and higher member fees for the improved profit performance.

Sales climbed 14% to $31.52 billion, and same-store sales rose 5%. Membership fee revenue rose 18% to $694 million. The company said it plans to open up to 14 new warehouses before the end of calendar year 2012.